#1110: The President (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1919) (My Favorite 1111 Movies)

The cinematic language employed in the very infancy of film and so early in the career of Dreyer is stunning a hundred years later and anticipate palpably the incredible movies he would go on to direct. The President is the debut film of the great Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer. It has a shocking emotional weight and a breathtaking mastery and invention of the film form.

The story is impressively complex, if a bit too dour and gratuitously sad to go into. Let's just say it is a weighty, joyless family drama. Dreyer's own troubled upbringing oozes into his art in this instance. The film has gorgeous 1919 cinematography and one distinct method employed here is similar to his later masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc. Shots of characters don't place them in a way that makes spatial sense, yet are placed in a way to heighten the emotions of the acting and is unnerving to the viewer through a resulting disorientation. This is obtained by carefully staging shots between cuts, meticulously setting up the characters placement in a way that is uniquely fashioned to the cinematic form, rather than traditional theatre staging.

Dreyer is one of the most emotionally serious filmmakers in history and The President is an early touchstone of the dreamscape silent era.

My Favorite 1111 Tracks (In No Particular Order): Yes "I've Seen All Good People"

There are so many things Yes does right in this early track. While prog-rock and much of Yes' middle period can be dense, heavy, aimless and boring, "I've Seen All Good People" manages to begin light on its feet and is lushly melodic. The core of the song is an optimistic anthem that still manages to weave like a great boxer through perfect 60's harmonies, infectious and gigantic instrumental sections and huge 70's guitar riffs. No one made music like Yes in their prime, before or since.

#1111: LCD Soundsystem's This is Happening (2010) (My 1111 Favorite Albums)

This is Happening begins with "Dance Yrself Clean". It's such a great track that it is kind of the case like in the movie La La Land or the Spoon Ga Ga… album where the beginning is really the best part, although there is plenty more good stuff to come. It is such a meticulously produced track, yet still surprising and unconventional. It succeeds at slowly building minute by minute, building a magnificent electronic tension, yet while being ironically undanceable. "All I Want", is a hypnotic mix of electronic and practical instruments. There is also the 80's synth heavy "I Can Change", which is also nice. "You Wanted a Hit" is a bit too on the nose, which is a problem James Murphy occasionally has. This is Happening opens and also closes out particularly strong with the Talking Heads-ish "Home". This is a nice way to close out an album that is at times musically challenging, shifting towards more sublime.

#1111: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981) (My Favorite 1111 Movies)

Not 5 minutes into Raiders and we get a stunningly young Alfred Molina. The great Alfred Molina. This won't be the last time Moline shows up on this list. I do love the opening cave scene. It makes you feel like you're at Universal Studios, or something. I could use more cave scenes and less desert caravans. I prefer the more cave heavy Indiana Jones flick. But, as it ends up, you really can't trust that Alfred Molina can you? Raiders definitely represents that brand of suspension of disbelief film where you have to blissfully disregard historical, archeological and practical facts in order to fully enjoy where Spielberg is taking you. Yet, this movie is decidedly more on the rails and methodical at its core than its sequel. That scene where Marion gets taken away in a basket really reminds me of a part of Buster Keaton's The General. I appreciated that. But, what makes Raiders most charming is its ability to make you always aware that you're in an elaborate film set most of the time, rather than in real locations. It all looks very impressive, while nevertheless obviously manufactured. Yet, this is really more of an asset to Raiders than a liability. It's nice to feel like you are constantly in an extravagant movie ride.

My Favorite 1111 Tracks (In No Particular Order): AC/DC "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"

Probably the first use of a cannon in a song in rock history... Well at least the most prominent use of a cannon in rock history. This was released as a single one month before I was born in 1982. The song became a staple of encores at live shows and featured cannons on stage! (Not real cannons I would have to presume) It was also recorded in Paris. The track kicks off the album of the same name with a mixture of brilliant, pointy guitars and thick heavy sludge guitars, sliding into Angus' squealing vocal. This is how you could describe many of AC/DC's great tracks. The song is referenced in many places from the movie School of Rock to Beastie Boys lyrics. It's a great track to start off this (one of 3) new feature!